JFAC approves program maintenance budgets for agencies from Legislature to Health and Human Services

The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 17 approved a series of program maintenance budgets that set FY2026 base appropriations, added limited statewide cost-allocation or contract-inflation decision units where applicable, and in many cases authorized reappropriation language for ARPA and other carryover funds.

Committee staff described these votes as the routine step that carries forward ongoing operations from previous legislatures into the next fiscal year, minus one-time items the Legislature removed earlier. The measures included base budgets and, where applicable, caps on full‑time‑equivalent (FTE) positions.

Votes at a glance (each item lists the motion maker, the second and roll-call outcome):

- Legislative Branch: Representative Miller moved to set the FY2026 base plus $41,700 for statewide cost allocation; total program maintenance $12,546,100; no FTE cap; motion approved 20‑0. (Second: Senator Ward Engelking.)

- Judicial Branch: Senator Carlson moved to set the FY2026 base plus $116,400 for statewide cost allocation; total program maintenance $96,696,300; no FTE cap; motion approved 20‑0. (Second: Representative Mitchell.)

- Constitutional Officers (six statewide elected offices): Representative Tanner moved maintenance budget including contract inflation and statewide cost allocation; total $73,630,300; cap 431.91 FTE; motion approved 20‑0. (Second: Senator Bierke.)

- Public Safety (Corrections, Juvenile Corrections, State Police, Brand Inspection, Racing Commission): Senator Wintrow moved a maintenance package including $2,215,000 for statewide cost allocation; total $528,074,000; cap 3,322.61 FTE; motion approved 20‑0. (Second: Representative Handy.)

- General Government (Administration, Governor’s Office agencies, State Tax Commission and others): Representative Miller moved the maintenance package including contract inflation and statewide cost allocation; total $479,688,000; motion approved 20‑0. (Second: Senator Galloway.)

- Economic Development functional area (including Department of Commerce, Department of Labor, Idaho State Historical Society, libraries, lottery, public defender, licensing, transportation-related funds): Senator Woodward moved maintenance budget including contract inflation and statewide cost allocation; total $1,380,135,600; cap 4,165.28 FTE; motion approved 20‑0. (Second: Representative Furness.)

- Natural Resources (DEQ, Fish and Game, Department of Lands, Endowment Fund Investment Board, Parks and Recreation, Water Resources): Representative Manwaring moved a maintenance package including contract inflation and statewide cost allocation; total $513,855,000; cap 1,632.4 FTE; motion approved 20‑0. (Second: Senator Ziderfeld.)

- State Board of Education and affiliated postsecondary institutions: Senator Ward Engelking moved maintenance budget including contract inflation and statewide cost allocation; total $1,099,940,000; selected programs capped at 534.97 FTE (agencies such as universities and extension are not subject to the FTE cap); motion approved 20‑0. (Second: Representative Petzke.)

- Public School Support: Representative Miller moved the public school maintenance package (base plus a $21,400 risk-management adjustment for the Educational Services for the Deaf and Blind); total $3,166,965,700 (includes general, dedicated and federal funds); no FTE caps apply to public schools; motion approved 20‑0. (Second: Senator Woodward.)

- Health and Human Services: The committee first approved a realignment request from the Department of Health and Welfare to match the department’s reorganization and to add a new budget appropriation unit for the Idaho Childcare Program (motion carried; roll-call recorded). Later the committee approved the FY2026 maintenance appropriation for Health & Human Services: Representative Tanner moved the large-package appropriation setting general, dedicated and federal fund totals and capping FTEs at 3,008.44; final recorded vote: 17 ayes, 2 nays, 1 absent/excused (majority passed). (Second: Senator Cook.)

Committee staff also presented sections of standard and recurring appropriation language and reappropriation authority for ARPA and other funds for multiple agencies (for example, reappropriation authority for broadband grants, behavioral health reporting systems, capital projects, workforce and childcare grants). Committee members voted on language packages for each functional area, generally by roll call, and staff will incorporate that language into appropriation bills to be drafted for the 2025 session.

Why it matters: program maintenance votes set the baseline funding and statutory language that departments use when preparing their budgets and operating plans. The committee’s decisions on FTE caps, reappropriation authority and continuous appropriation determine how agencies can carry funds forward, move money among expense classes and manage multi‑year projects.

What’s next: staff will draft appropriation bills incorporating the committee’s motions and the committee will review those draft bills at a follow-up meeting before they are reported out.